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The year of 1998 was a difficult time for the world's coral reefs, with abnormally warm sea surface temperatures (SST's) causing widespread coral bleaching. The animations and images on this page show the differences between the climatological maximum monthly mean SST (ie the expected summer-time maximum) and the satellite-derived NOAA/NESDIS nightime SST fields. When the nightime SST field is warmer than the expected summer-time maximum by 1 degree C, the region is shown in orange as a potential coral bleaching hotspot.
NOAA/NESDIS oceanographer, Dr. Al Strong, has collected reports of coral bleaching from an informal network of coral reef researchers and observers. These reports have been overlayed on the following 1998 animations and images.
Each asterisk symbolizes a new bleaching report and remains on the animation/image for four weeks.
The Animation
of the Great Barrier Reef Bleaching Event, (El Nino, 1/17/98-4/17/98,
1.6
mb) depicts hotspots in the Indian Ocean intensifying east of Australia,
east of Madagascar, and south of Africa, with bleaching reports noted in the Great Barrier Reef. The hotspots then dissipate somewhat and move northward towards India.
The Animation
of the Indian Ocean Bleaching Event, (El Nino/La Nina transition period
, 3/24/98-7/24/98, 1.0 mb) depicts hotspots from Africa to west of Indonesia and Australia moving northwards towards India, with coral bleaching reports scattered throughout the Indian Ocean.
The Animation
of Bahrain, Red Sea and Eastern Pacific Bleaching Events, (early
La Nina, 7/4/98-10/27/98, 0.8 mb) shows hotspots in Southeast Asia, with intense hotspots in the Red, Caspian, Black, Arabian, and Mediterranean Seas and east of Japan.
The Animation
of the Western Hemisphere Bleaching Events, (early La Nina, 6/20/98-11/7
/98, 1.1 mb) depicts hotspots near Panama and Colombia, followed by development of a large area of hotspots from the Atlantic to the Baja peninsula, with bleaching reports clustered in the Caribbean. The pattern then breaks up and shifts south between South America and northwest of Africa.
The Animation
of HotSpots during El Nino,(1/3/98-6/6/98 in the Western Hemisphere,
2.0
mb) shows the classic pattern of an extensive region of hotspots reaching from the coasts of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru out into the Pacific Ocean.
The Indian
Ocean Bleaching Event - time series , (3/24/98-8/11/98) is a series of five images showing hotspots extending the entire length of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Indonesia, with hotspots decreasing in intensity over time.
The Western
Hemisphere Bleaching Event - time series, (6/20/98-9/8/98) is a series of six images showing hotspots initially focused off the coast of Colombia and the Pacific side of lower Central America. Later hotspots are located east of Florida and in the Caribbean. Most of the reports indicate bleaching around Florida and Cuba.
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Regularly Updated Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Imagery:
50 km Nighttime SST | SST Anomalies | HotSpots | Degree Heating Weeks | Coral Bleaching Virtual Stations | Satellite Bleaching Alerts Regularly Updated Animations of Operational Coral Bleaching Monitoring Products: 50 km Nighttime SST Animations | Anomaly Animations | HotSpot Animations | DHW Animations Retrospective Coral Bleaching Monitoring Products: 1983-1998 SST monthly means | 1983-1998 SST monthly mean Anomalies | 1998 coral bleaching events and animations | 1998/1999 seasonal DHWs | 1985-1999 SST time series for 24 global coral reef sites Other Links of Interest: Ocean Surface Winds | ORA Satellite Oceanography Division | Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System | National Climatic Data Center | Polar Orbiter Data and NOAA KLM User's Guides |
Last Modified March 03, 2008 (jw)
